Performance

The Moto X Force packs a hefty punch with the Snapdragon 810 v2.1 chipset. The Adreno 430 pairs very nicely with the latter for a smooth UI experience. Sure, there is the newer and cooler Snapdragon 820 chip, but let's not forget that the Moto X Force originally launched late last year when the 810 was still Qualcomm's greatest mass-production SoC around.

So, the Moto X Force offers an octa-core processor with 4x Cortex-A53 @ 1.5GHz and 4x Cortex-A57 @ 2.0GHz. There are also 3 gigs of RAM.

GeekBench 3 single-core score put the Moto X Force around the bottom of the chart as it tests a single Cortex-A53 core, which is quite outdated.

GeekBench 3 (single-core)

Higher is better

HTC 102368

LG G52328

Xiaomi Mi 52305

Samsung Galaxy S72170

Huawei P91819

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+1490

Huawei Nexus 6P1363

Motorola Moto X Force1273

The multi-core performance is on par with the last year's Exynos chips, but behind the S820 phones (Mi 5, G5, HTC 10). The custom Kryo cores inside those are paying off (remember, there are only four of those in a Snapdragon 820, while the Snapdragon 810 is an eight-core main processor).

GeekBench 3 (multi-core)

Higher is better

Huawei P96558

Samsung Galaxy S76360

LG G55362

Xiaomi Mi 55358

HTC 105257

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+5158

Motorola Moto X Force4693

Huawei Nexus 6P4539

LG V103607

LG G Flex23604

Moto X Pure Edition3433

Motorola Moto X Play2608

The compound AnTuTu benchmark puts the X Force on par with the Nexus 6P, which runs on the same chipset. The latest crop of flagships does noticeably better though.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

HTC 10154031

LG G5134541

Samsung Galaxy S7132084

Xiaomi Mi 5131758

Huawei P998069

Huawei Nexus 6P89345

Motorola Moto X Force87290

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+83167

LG V1067547

We see the same results in the compound BaseMark OS II 2.0 test. The Moto X Force is around the bottom, on par with the S810-powered G Flex2 and Galaxy S6's Exynos. The latest flagships are faster by a significant margin.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

Xiaomi Mi 52180

Samsung Galaxy S72128

Huawei P92068

LG G52065

Huawei Nexus 6P2040

HTC 101839

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+1789

LG G Flex21726

Motorola Moto X Force1669

LG V101383

Motorola Moto X Play809

There is a newer generation of Adreno GPU already, which is better equipped to handle Quad HD resolution. Still the S810's Adreno 430 model is quite a powerful and snappy GPU and will handle the graphic-demanding tasks with ease.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

When it comes to onscreen Quad HD resolution, the Adreno 430 is actually very close to what the G5 and HTC 10 score with the newer Adreno 530. The Mi 5 is on top because it runs on 1080p resolution.

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

Xiaomi Mi 529

Samsung Galaxy S715

LG G515

HTC 1015

Motorola Moto X Force12

Huawei P911

Huawei Nexus 6P11

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+6.6

LG V105.7

Moto X Pure Edition5.6

The BaseMark X puts the X Force on par with the HTC 10 and the Galaxy S6 edge+, which is odd, but proves the GPU is very capable. BaseMark ES 3.1 GPU test also shows a better result than the Nexus 6P, and not far behind the Mi 5.

Basemark X

Higher is better

Xiaomi Mi 533110

Samsung Galaxy S732345

LG G529456

HTC 1028882

Motorola Moto X Force26697

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+26333

Huawei Nexus 6P22825

LG G Flex219360

Huawei P916942

LG V1015161

Moto X Pure Edition14598

Motorola Moto X Play5032

Basemark ES 3.1 / Metal

Higher is better

Samsung Galaxy S7732

LG G5587

Xiaomi Mi 5580

Motorola Moto X Force525

Huawei Nexus 6P504

Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+348

Huawei P9341

LG V10297

The good news is the Motorola Moto X Force and its Snapdragon 810 provide a flagship-grade performance even though it's not chart topping. There isn't a single task the Force can't handle, and all available games to date will run hassle-free.

Android Marshmallow runs butter-smooth, too, so there is nothing to worry about either.

The Snapdragon 810 chip was plagued by overheating issues, and while it is now in its second (improved) revision, those are still possible. Luckily, the Moto X Force handles thermal distribution very well and there is no throttling even when the phone gets hot.

And the bad news is, the Moto X Force indeed gets hot when under pressure. Its metal frame and ballistic nylon rear cover get uncomfortably warm. But that's it - there is no overheating or performance throttling.